PPC spends $2.5m on environmental compliance

Published: 28 August 2017

GIANT cement maker PPC Zimbabwe says it has spent $2.5 million to curb high stack emissions in the last two years at its Colleen Bawn plant in line with the environmental compliance regulations.

The plant is the backbone of PPC operations in the country responsible for lime mining and clinker production, which feeds into the Bulawayo and Harare plants for further processing into the final cement product.

Plant manager, Mr Allan Tshabangu, told a visiting delegation by Deputy Industry and Commerce Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa on Thursday that the company has come up with a programme to upgrade its plant so as to meet compliance expectations.

"We have spent about $1 million on emissions control to address dust issues. Within the last two years $2.5 million has been channelled towards addressing environmental compliance issues," said Mr Tshabangu.

"In terms of future plans we actually plan to upgrade and elevate our plant to world class standards on environmental issues."

He said the firm has also invested heavily on health and safety issues saying thorough medical examinations were conducted routinely to ensure the welfare of workers.

The plant has 174 permanent staff and operates at 60 percent capacity utilisation. The Colleen Bawn factory supports close to 4 000 people who survive on it downstream. Dep Min Mabuwa challenged management to create more jobs to assist the Government in reducing levels of unemployment in the country.

Meanwhile, Mr Tshabangu said PPC has partnered the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) on a project to rehabilitate Geelong Dam, whose wall was destroyed by floods in the last season. He said the project has created 60 jobs for locals and was expected to be completed next month.

The company executives also complained over inefficient water and electricity supplies, which hamper productivity. Mr Tshabangu indicated that while they were put on dedicated supply by Zesa, the supplies were inconsistent, which results in damage to critical equipment, increasing repair costs to the firm.

- online

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